47. The Sinner
Chapter forty-seven
The Sinner
Dinah
I t’s been three days since the incident on the roof with Noah Rothesay, the one which I was certain would be my last moments on this poison-filled earth, until my three lovers banded together to save me. When I was finally safe, and we could all catch our breaths, we went back up to the roof, and found a traumatized Magdalena sitting next to the brick ledge, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she sobbed. It took some soft words, and reassurances that she would be safe with us, to get her to leave the warehouse. She confessed that Noah murdered her whole family before taking her prisoner. The reason why he wanted the little girl remains a mystery, but I shudder to think what his nefarious purposes might have been, and I’m so thankful we managed to stop him.
When we reached the bottom floor of the warehouse, we were reunited with Dartmouth, and one other surviving rebel, who looked perplexed at everything that happened. Dead bodies of both insurgents and Brotherhood men and women lay everywhere. So much bloodshed and death, all for one man’s appetite for power, greed, and glory. Noah’s broken body greeted us outside of the warehouse, and honestly, it was a welcome sight, even if it was a little anticlimactic. I would have much preferred cutting his chest open while he was alive, and ripping out his heart, instead of him falling to his death, but I guess a death is a death, and it pleased me to know he felt absolute terror in those last moments. I refused to look away from the sight of his cracked skull and sightless eyes, allowing myself to sear that image into my mind’s memory. I demanded that his body be brought back to the capital, and placed on the symbol of the Brotherhood’s crest, for all to see what happens to a man who valued nothing but power, and easily used humans as discardable chess pieces. Sarah wasn’t thrilled with my order, but I couldn’t have cared less. She insisted that I set myself up as the de facto leader, and here I am leading. I also believe my mother would have been proud of my actions, and at the end of the day, I care more about a dead woman’s opinion than Sarah’s.
Magdalena has been placed in the care of a rebel family, who stepped forward to care for her. I was both relieved, and wary of allowing the child to be separated from us, but I knew every time she looked at one of us, all she saw was death, and if she was to have a future, and some sense of stability, in this turbulent world, I had to let her go. It doesn’t mean I trust anyone with her. I now have spies of my own keeping track of her, Bithiah, and her mother. I’m learning what it means to be a leader, one painful step at a time.
Both Sammy and Ezekiel have been extra quiet, and reserved, since we returned from the warehouse. Sammy has once again shuttered himself away with his thoughts, reliving, I am sure, the moment when he almost lost me. My protector blames himself, even though it was my own actions that caused me to fall off that roof. I’ve begged him not to distance himself from us, and to talk to me, that together we can work through anything, because we love each other. He agreed, but I’m not sure he meant it, so only time will tell.
Zeke is wrestling with the fact that he has killed both his parents. It’s left him angry, confused, and ready to take on the world in a fit of rage. I know he has said it needed to be done, and that they meant nothing to him. They weren’t great parents, but they were his, and right or wrong, it has left a mark on him, one even Abe can’t seem to break. I hope that with time and all our love, yes even Sammy’s, we can bring back some of his joy. I miss my calculating, demanding husband, and I know sooner or later, his melancholy will lessen. It hasn’t been easy for Zeke in all this, and although he’s remained strong, the wounds inside of him are festering, and I fear he will need to release his anger, before it causes an explosion that we can’t come back from. I’m prepared to stand by his side and help him heal as best as I can.
My berserker, on the other hand, seems relatively fine, aside from being a little irate that I fell off the side of a building and almost died, and he had to climb like a spider to get me. He’s stepped up, where the other two are struggling, helping me to manage the warfare against the remaining areas where the Brotherhood is still actively fighting against the resistance. Sarah seems to be extremely pleased by his actions, and I find that, more often than not, they are both looking over maps and planning orders together. I still don’t know if she’s loyal to me. I often find her staring at me, with a wistful look in her eyes that I can’t read, and it gives me the creeps.
The only thing that still concerns me, and keeps me from being able to rest, is where my father and David are hiding. There have been no sightings of either yet. The rebels that pledged their allegiance to me, and my leadership, swear they have no intel on them, but I don’t know if I believe them. They didn’t just fall off the face of the earth, and my father desperately wanted to see his plan to overturn the Brotherhood transpire. They are still here somewhere, rats hiding unseen in the walls, just waiting for me to let my guard down, as I attempt to obtain a sliver of hope, and happiness, so they can pounce and steal it from me.
I can’t allow that to happen; no matter what, I will end their tyranny. My father will not get to use me against my men, or anyone else. I am still the Unholy Ghost, and she cowers for no one.